Black Bag (2025)

(dir. Steven Soderbergh) George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is a British intelligence agent tasked with discovering which of his fellow agents has stolen a classified piece of software code-named ‘Severus’. The first step in his investigation is to throw a dinner party at his home, inviting all the suspects, including his wife (Cate Blanchett)….

Soderbergh (also handling the Director of Photography and Editing roles) is very effective here with a tight, dialogue-heavy script from David Koepp (Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park, Raimi’s Spiderman and more). Its London spies are a blend of John le Carré and modern Bond film, with the casting of Pierce Brosnan and Naomi Harris a not-so-subtle metatextual wink about its inspirations. The film is more funny than tense, but a speedy 94 minute running time and a cast clearly enjoying themselves make the time fly by. ★★★★☆